Pechudin

Watching the TotalBiscuit's (RIP) video about Brutal Doom in 2016 I think. I played nothing but BD for about a year and as time went on found myself going more and more vanilla. Still, I am not giving up my mouselook! It is probably fair to say that a lot of new members are here because of BD, love it or hate it. I wonder if there are statistics about rate of member growth somewhere on this site.

MAP19: Ancestral Domain (HMP, Deaths: 1, Saveless: No) Again with the moody MIDI choice, this time it seems we are trespassing in an ancient hidden temple. Gameplay is trap-oriented, AFAIK there are no instances of enemies already being in the room when you enter it (well, except the starting room). I had a lot of ammo from my continuous play, so the opening room was quite easy, I tucked myself in a corner and blasted with the Rocket Launcher. The standout encounter has to be the final room. You are surrounded on all sides and it is a battle for time until the Nobles get crushed, thus opening a safe angle. This is where my only death came from. There is a safe spot however, behind any one of the Revenant pillars. That is where I tucked myself in and waited for the Nobles to get crushed. All in all, a fairly enjoyable map.

MAP18: Napkin Maths (HMP, Deaths: 2, Saveless: No) I wonder what the name of the map means? Was it quickly drawn on a napkin? Maybe it refers to 'quick calculations', i.e. reflexes one has to have to not get killed? That would make sense, the traps are quite vicious and each one netted one death. In total there are two large ambushes, one with the Revenants and Imps and the second one in the bloodfall room. In both of those traps your survival heavily depends on the weapon you have out when trigger them. And that is ... it? If it was smaller it would fit well with last month's DWMC pick, but here it sticks out as a sore thumb. Add the very basic visuals to heavily coreographed traps and you have a map that is very definitely not my cup of tea. Also, I exited the map with somehing like 62% kills. I would go back to replay the map and find the rest of the enemies, but I accidentaly saved on the next map and I do not intend on pistol starting it.

MAP31: Solar Powered (HMP, Deaths: 3, Saveless: No) Surprisingly enough finding the secret keys and the exit was not that hard (in MAP15). After a couple of deaths to the secret exit Cyberdemon, we find ourselves on an island surrounded by lava. Gameplay revolves around a patchwork techbase-Egyptian/Aztec temple/skyscraper thingy where the goal is to find all the switches to power up the pillars that lead to the exit. I liked the look of the map, and the fights were generally not that hard. All of my deaths came on the final stone walkway part, I fell off a couple of times and other two times I just got barraged to death by Cacodemons. I liked the exit sequence, how the light in the lowering lava pit gradually dimmed. I suppose this was done with conveyors and voodoo dolls. Appaerently one needed to solve a puzzle to find this super secret exit? I guess I solved it by pure chance then. I don't know if I'll be able to do the MAP32. Two reasons: My framerate is atrocious on this map, and man I am just pissed off at this map, I really do not like this kind of gameplay.

MAP16: Dregs of a Bitter Cup (HMP, Deaths: 0, Saveless: Yes) The change in atmosphere from the last map (MAP15) and this one is stark, for now we find ourselves in a dark, decrepid catacomb. Immediately the music reminds me of Strange Aeons, and the gameplay is fairly similar. Much more emphasis is placed on exploration, and the monster placement compliments that as most of it is very incidental and fairly easy (on continuous). I feel this is very intentional however, since it further emphasises the atmosphere. What this map does more than any other is point out how a good choice of MIDI turns a good map into a great one. Imagine if instead it was another 90s midified metal track? It would be so jarring. Awards: More Please. I would love a wad full of these maps, with coherent story connecting each map, perhaps notes you could collect and read. Something like Strange Aeons, or Doxylamine Moon from Sacrament. I should go and play Rlyeh. MAP17: Khmeer Agul Tan (HMP, Deaths: 0, Saveless: Yes) I don't have much to say about this one. Fairly inoffensive and rather easy. Most encounters can be baited and camped at the nearest doorway, even the Cyberdemons are not too hard to deal with. There is a lot of unaligned textures, opening room especially has those skin frame walls that just kind of cuts into the floor prematurely. It felt a bit empty as well, like it could do with a lot more enemies.

MAP15: Megiddo III (HMP, Deaths: 7, Saveless: Hell naw) The opening of the map is certainly something to behold. A hub with four distinct little subdomains, each hosting a series of fights that are just brief enough to not become a grind. By far my favourite part is the Red Key part, a city map with buildings that each host their little encounter and the outside that fills with monsters after the key is collected. In spirit this part is very similar to some of Sandy's city maps and the final fight reminded me of the final fight in the MAP15 of D2TWID. The first and only death in this part came at the hands of many teleporting zombies after I foolishly missed the Blur Sphere, but other than that it was not too hard. Most of my deaths came from the final fight at the regular exit. At first it looked (to me, keep in mind I am not a very good player) like an impossible task but really the only tricky part is the Pain Elemental swarm, they must die QUICK lest they completely clog the playing space with Lost Souls. As of writing this, I have not found the secret Yellow and Red Key, but I have made a save, so I'll try to find it legit later, and now continue onto MAP16. Awards: Developing a Taste. You know how sometime you just assume you hate something and thus do not even try it? I really thought I hated slaughtermaps (and arguably this one is not too slaughterish), but in some of this map's fights I reached almost a zen-like state, not even thinking about dodging the Revenant missles or Cyber rockets. It felt good, and I did not mind dying too much. This is for me, I suppose, the value of DWMC, it exposes me to different types of maps.

MAP14: El Dorado (HMP, Deaths: 0, Saveless: Yes) I took a quick peek at the comments (I really ought not to) about this map and was excited by mentions of the map evoking memories of A.L.T. in certain players. After playing it, I have to say that while it was definitely a fun map that decided to stick to a core 'time/alternate reality hopping' theme a la TNT's Wormhole it definitely ain't no A.L.T. Ultimately A.L.T. has a story that runs trough the entire mapset, while here the map has only itself to tell the entire story (again, the restriction of the community mapset). That being said, I loved all the little absurdisms like the aforementioned secret behind the yellow door that exits into the golden void, or the holes in the door watched by dozens of evil eyes, or the '94-looking wooden boat that reminded me of E2M1 of Blood, or the ridiculous '1-pixel wide staircase' sector bloodfall. The absurdisms and quirky details however do not go overboard into the 'lolrandom' territory. Another detail that reminded me of Blood was the circular scarab pillar with the Blue armor that looks almost like the one in the starting room of E1M1 of Blood where you get the crate of TNT. The final battle felt a bit anticlimactic, as you got only Hell Nobles and imps to contend with (unless you decide to open the Cyberdemon door prematurely), and you are well stocked with health if you found the secret island Megasphere. Other than that, the only criticism I could level at it would be that map felt a bit flat.

MAP13: Tomb of Solitude (HMP, Deaths: 0, Saveless: Yes) I really liked the slow cook that is this map's initial start and the MIDI choice really helped to set the atmosphere. I liked how you need to solve a (albeit easy) puzzle to even get into the crypt. After you get inside, the map does not barrage you with constant enemies, as if inching slowly foward you only wake the local denizens from their sleep, and not the entire crypt. This all culminates in an arena battle against two Cyberdemons and an assortment of other monsters. You know that feeling when you are fighting a battle you feel is right at the limit of your comfort zone? That is how it felt for me, ducking and weaving around the monsters in the outer circle, just waiting for all of them to be killed by the Cyberdemons. After that the battle became quite easy, circlestrafing in the outer edge, stopping only to use the Plasma Gun on one of the Cyberdemons. The map ends quietly, just as it started, a couple of zombiemen guarding the exit teleport. Guess they never thought Doomguy would manage to get trough? After the Cyberdemon battle I went around pressing switches, and got a BFG and some cell ammo. I did not know what that was about, but now I know it was what the Blue Key unlocked. Awards: Slow cook. As I said, I really liked the initial part of the map. It's a DooM map, so you know monsters will come out, yet they don't seem to. Thus you have more time to drink in the level design, the music and maybe even think of the possible reasons for you being here, or the structure being here. What is its story? Yours?

MAP12: Beautiful Agony (HMP, Deaths: 0, No Saves: Yes) The map's theme is a direct continuation of the previous map's. Reminds me of Epic, but somewhat easier. It does play a lot better than the previous map, but the visuals left a lot to be desired for me. They are adequate, but nothing too fancy. I did notice there was a lot of health everywhere, and the megasphere secret was a tad too easy to find. Fighting is not very difficult but it does have its moments, and I'd imagine the starting Revenants would be a lot harder on pistol start. I had ample plasma from this and the previous map, so the Cyberdemon was no problem. The ending Revenants however were almost fatal, thankfully I managed to grab the megasphere and dash outside. What are my overall feelings about this map? It was fun, but ultimately not too memorable. More fun than the previous one map for sure, but I will probably remember the previous map longer. Is that an useful metric, how memorable the map is? Depends, I suppose.

MAP11: Terraforming Mines (HMP, Deaths: 0, No Saves: Yes) So, after dying in the boat in the last map we are somehow teleported into an UAC base. The detailing here is absolutely gorgeous, I was especially stunned by the myriad broken lights dangling from the ceiling/bent in the wall, their wires exposed or running under the floor tiles. It seemed like it has a spirit of a TNT map, visuals/narrative given priority over gameplay. Later on the map turns into Epic, but in visuals only. This part of the map was less appealing to me, and the detailing here was either absent or I did not notice it. The gameplay was ... mostly shotgunning trash monsters, really easy, rather filler-feeling. Most of the time monsters are directly in front of you with only one path they can take to get you. The Cyberdemon fight was too easy as well and the final two Archviles were of no threat either. Heh, I started mapping a bit lately and this is literally the first thing I did. I did realize I'd never finish anything at that pace, though. Awards: All Show. With the easy opposition I felt under no pressure, so I mostly went around going 'Oooh' at all the little details mapper put into the map. I feel like this map would do well as a part of a larger set of maps, unfortunately I feel like the community nature of the mapset does not lend itself well to story-driven wads.

MAP10: A Partner of the 49th Day (HNTR, Deaths: Too Many, No Saves: Yes) At first I did this map on HMP, and all was going well until the last fight where I realised I'd softlocked myself by expending all the ammo and finding myself on the wrong side of the entrance hallway horde. As you might imagine, this put me in a bit of a bad mood, since this map does demand quite a bit of time to complete. Sigh. Bumped it down to HNTR and re-did it. So, first of all, I recognize the mapper name, I think they made some maps for the JPCP? At any rate, upon loading the map I frowned a bit at the monster count. There are two possibilities, I thought to myself. Either the map delivers monsters slowly and this turns into a multi-hour slog or it's a slaughtermap. I am fan of neither of those styles. What I got was kind of a mixture of styles, several smaller slaughter-lite encounters. The map takes place in a large gothic structure (presumably in hell). The visuals were nice if a bit derivative, gothic themed maps being dime a dozen in DooM PWAD scene. If I had to describe the map in one phrase, it would be Accesible. Indeed, even on HMP I managed to deal with the monster hordes since often there would be a chokepoint or a doorframe you could funnel the enemies through. Fights I enjoyed the most were the Hell Knight/Imp arena and the corridor leading to it, just pumping rockets into the hapless mass of enemies. The fight that caused me the most frustration was the church/altar fight because of Pain Elementals spawning Lost Souls. DooM's glacial weapon swap speed can make this fight frustrating if you want to dispatch them with some other weapon. Awards: Gateway Drug. Despite the high monster count, this map does not demand frantic maneuvering. There is quite a lot of safe space and camping positions, and moster hordes are not carefully-coreographed but instead a chaotic mass that is fun to blast to pieces. I could imagine this map as sort of an introduction to slaughtermaps for someone not used to them.

MAP09: Scarlet Syzygy (HMP, Deaths: 2, No Saves: Yes) I can see what @TheOrganGrinder meant with this feeling like entrance to hell, as I got immediate Scythe MAP21 vibe with its red rock, brick and small monster count. Unlike with MAP21 of Scythe, you do not start with no weapons, so in some respects it is far easier on continuous play. This coupled with a generous soulsphere and blue armour made the map mostly a breeze. That being said, I did die twice in the lava before I managed to find the switch that progresses the level. In a normal map I might consider this dickish design but here due to its brevity it feels more like the map itself being hostile to you (I mean, it is hell). Visually I quite liked the exit room, very nice, as well as the automap chibi devil in the RL secret. Hmm, can't quite think of a standout moment, so no awards for this map. Do not take this as a slight against the map, I just cannot sum my thoughts about it in a single phrase. Holy moly, the next map.

MAP08: The Crow Comes Last (MHP, Deaths: 0, No Saves: Yes) Right away, the MIDI from the MAP11 of A.L.T., an excellent choice! This is a very linear trek trough red brick, marble and stone ruins, a parthenon in a lake of fire that oddly enough reminded me of some island maps in Worms Forts. It dragged on a bit too much, and the combat was very basic most of the time. If it were me I would pack a lot less shells and a LOT more rockets into the map, then the map would be less grindy. As it is, the map serves a couple of scenarios where you are presented with a horde of trash monsters ready for your RL, I always liked these kinds of fights where DooM feels like an action movie. Other than that it is kind of boring, mostly SSG and Barons/Revenants. Oh, and screw those exit chaingunners, what is this, MAP16 of Plutonia? I was also somewhat surprised by the total lack of secrets, these kinds of ruins would lend themselves well to some ledge shimmying over lava pools a la Sigil. Awards: AAA DooM/DooM by the Numbers. I guess this is what would happen if DooM was an AAA game back in the day? Linear, nice-looking with mostly forgettable combat and a couple of explosive showpieces (like the imp horde). It is okay.

MAP07: Cannibal (HMP, Deaths: 0, No Saves: Yes) I don't know guys, I am not feeling this map. It is competent, visually coherent and quite easy on the eyes, the fights are not dull and for player of my caliber quite manageable. It just kind of lacks something, I do not know what. Atmosphere? Maybe it felt too much like something else? I guess I'd have to say it feels like a map I played a lot of times in many other wads in slightly different forms. Sorry if it sounds dickish. The warp after the Mastermind room did give me quite the startle though, I ran like a headless chicken into one room after another only to find them equally filled to the brim with hostiles, thankfully I saved a lot of BFG ammo and just let her rip untile everything was dead. The final room looked promising with monsters not reacting to you (behind invisible walls), but was also defused with the BFG. Awards: Is it me? Maybe it's because I came back home tired, but it feels like it does not really offer anything new to me. I value that newness factor, but I guess as number of wads played grows it will get harder to find something truly unique. EDIT: Hey, new member rank!

MAP06 (HMP, Deaths: 1, No Saves: No) The start was frantic since I started at 37% health with barely any ammo, but I managed to eventually carve myself enough space to recuperate and restock on ammo. As others have said, the place gives off MAP20+ of Scythe kind of vibe with its liberal use of red rock texture. Surprisingly (mostly to me, since I am kind of a bad DooM player), I managed to survive trough each fight, primarily trough judicious use of the rocket launcher. Looking back, it really makes me think. Usually I use RL only on long to mid distance engagements for fear of blowing myself up, but since this map never seems to spawn enemies directly in your face it really pays to use RL even is somewhat close quarters. In the blood pit you can easily get cornered but with the RL I quickly obliterated groups of enemies and handily survived. I did die once after the BFG pickup, I ran outside and got zapped by two Archviles I had no idea were released. Reloaded a save and BFG'd the lot. Next up was the Cyberdemon fight, and here I decided to try one of those fancy Cyberdemon BFG two-shots. Failed to do it in two shots, but managed to win that facedown. I was kind of proud of that (even though, looking back, it was a silly thing to be proud of). Having a BFG with 500 cells after the Cyberdemon made the following fights rather trivial. Awards: More than one use. This map made me appreciate the rocket launcher more. It can be a surprisingly scalpel-like weapon even in close quarters. If you are not afraid to use it, it rewards you with huge room clearing potential and quick punching of holes in advancing monsters. This is nothing new to majority of you guys, especially those that play slaughtermaps, but somewhat of a new revelation to me.